The Oklahoma Sooners (6-6 overall, 2-6 conference) will face the Navy Midshipmen (9-3 overall, 6-2 conference) in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at the Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas at Noon ET today.
With a less than stellar 2-6 in conference play, the Sooners found themselves further down the standings in their first season playing in the SEC when the season ended. They were ranked as high as 15th nationally, until they lost to the sixth ranked Tennessee Volunteers 25-15 on Sept. 21, and found themselves out of the national rankings after losing to the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns 31-3 just two weeks later.
A highlight for the Sooner program was playing the spoiler with a 24-3 upset over the No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide on Nov. 23, a game in which Oklahoma had a nine minute advantage in time of possession, ran for 257 yards and took the ball away from the visiting Crimson Tide three times. It effectively knocked Alabama out of the playoffs for only the third time since 2014.
“It’s the next game. It’s the biggest game of the year. It’s what is in front of us right now. We put everything we got into winning this game,” said Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables. “We have confidence in the work that we’ve put in.”
Meanwhile, the Midshipmen improved their standing from a year earlier when they went 5-7 in Brian Newberry’s first season as head coach and missing out on the Bowl season, to starting this season 6-0 tied with Army for first place in the American Athletic Conference midway through the season. They also ranked as high as 24th nationally, their first time in the national rankings since 2019.
It was an Oct. 26 matchup against No. 12 ranked Notre Dame that ended Navy’s hopes of staying ranked. They were on the short end of a 51-14 blow out to drop them from the rankings, and then they lost to Rice the following week. They did manage to fulfill one of their goals for the season when they beat No. 22 Army 31-13 in the 125th annual Army-Navy game on Dec. 14.
“We’re really excited about this game. It’s an incredible venue. It sounds like a sellout crowd, which is going to be great,” said Navy head coach Brian Newberry. “I’m sure three-quarters of that crowd is going to be wearing red but it’s going to be a great environment. It’s a hostile environment, probably for us. We’ll have some supporters there. I think we travel really well. Our players are ecstatic about the opportunity to play a program like Oklahoma with its storied history.”
Each team will have overcome challenges by the time the kickoff happens. For the Sooners, the challenge has been navigating the transfer portal. Twenty-five players, including starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, have joined the transfer portal. Arnold recently signed with Auburn. This has had an impact on both sides of the ball but is felt more on defense considering the effort that Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley have put into rebuilding that side of the ball.
“Obviously where we’re at today is different than where we started the season, from a roster standpoint. We’re like most people not named Navy,” said Venables, tongue-in-cheek. “The calendar is not conducive to keeping your team together from start to finish. I don’t blame one player for guys who have chosen to go find another opportunity, for whatever reason… Our system is set up in such a way that it is what they are forced to do. I have no issues with that. You just do the best you can with what you have. My focus is on the guys that we have.”
Navy only has one player in the transfer portal, sophomore cornerback Lorenzo Vitti, who has not signed with another program yet.
“The Naval Academy is a special place, and they’ve always kind of been unicorns in college football, even moreso today. Some of the things that we’re protected from, we don’t have to worry about. Coach Venables talked about it a lot. I’m not jealous of the challenges those guys face,” said Newberry. “We’re still a developmental program. We’ll recruit guys who come in as a freshman. The guys who we recruit who come to the Naval Academy, it’s more than just football, which makes it special.”
“There’s a special young man who is admissible into the Naval Academy academically. He has got to be able to play Division I football, and who wants to and is willing to serve their country, which makes it unique and very different. We’ve got great young men in the program,” Newberry added. “I feel like I’ve got one of the best jobs in the country because of the type of young men that I get to coach every day, and the honor and privilege of helping develop our young men who are going to lead in our military and serve our country.”
For Navy, the challenge is the schedule, which has been pretty rugged. They opened their schedule with a three-game homestand, in which they went 3-0. Two of their next three were on the road, in which they also went 3-0, to start off the season with a perfect 6-0 record. They played only one of their final six games at their home stadium. Two of the games, against Notre Dame and Army, were considered home games but were played away from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, essentially neutral sites. The last time Navy played in Annapolis, Md., was Nov. 16, a 35-0 loss to the 25th ranked Tulane Green Wave.
“It’s an interesting layout to the season. Having those road games and being in some hostile environments are great experiences for our football team, and hopefully it will pay off on Friday,” said Newberry. “We talk about deserving success all the time, and it doesn’t mean that you always get it in the outcome. These guys have certainly done that.”
With one more game to go, each coach looks at the opportunities that will present themselves to further their respective programs.
“It’s rewarding for me to see these guys have success in the outcome on the field, especially for us to win the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy, it’s our most important goal in our program. We have an opportunity to play in the Armed Forces Bowl and to get our 10th win. There have only been five other Navy teams that have double-digit wins in the history of the Academy. It’s an opportunity for our guys to make a little history,” said Newberry. Navy had double-digit wins in the 1905, 2004, 2009, 2015 and 2019 seasons, and finished with nine wins 11 times (1907, 1908, 1926, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1996, 2006, 2013 2016).
The youthful nature of the Sooners team means that this is one more chance to get reps in for some of the freshmen and sophomores. Considering that Oklahoma is the sixth-winningest program in FBS history with 950 wins, and will be playing in a bowl game for the 26th-consecutive season, it will be important for their young players to gain more experience. This is their 58th Bowl game, the 4th most by any school, and they have a 31-25-1 record overall.
“I do believe in another opportunity for our young football team. It will pay huge dividends. It’s a different type of challenge,” said Venables. “It’s an opportunity for this team to continue to grow and develop and get better, both for this year in finishing on a high note, which is really important for us internally, and going into our offseason program, I think it will bode well.”
“There are still 67 scholarship players who are still here. Eleven are not available because of injuries,” Venables said. “We’ve played 8,000 reps among freshmen and sophomores this year and that will pay dividends, along with portal additions.” He noted that of the 56 players suiting up for the game, 24 will be freshmen.
Navy has one of the best rushing offenses in the country, while Oklahoma has been known for its shut down defense. But with transfer portal issues and rough scheduling, who wins the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl may just come down to the team that wants it more. We’ll find that answer out this afternoon.
The Armed Forces Bowl will be televised by ESPN with Courtney Lyle, Rene Ingoglia and Morgan Uber providing coverage.
